2013 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 2013.

Years in rail transport

2012 in rail transport 2013 in rail transport 2014 in rail transport

Events

• Finish Railways introduce their first control cars, the Edo-class.[1]
• Private commuter operator Elron phases out all Soviet-built train sets. Some of them were sold to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan or are on storage in Riga. During storage one train was converted into dual-voltage.

By month

January events

• 18 January – Brand new V250-high speed EMU's taken out of Fyra-service definitely due to poor quality.
• 28 January – New Orleans Regional Transit Authority Loyola Avenue Streetcar Line opened.[2]

February events

• 10 February – opening of Milan Metro Line 5.
• 11 February – Manchester Metrolink light rail system East Manchester Line opened to Droylsden.[3]
• 24 February – The platforms at Togoshi-kōen Station, on the Tokyu Oimachi Line in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan, are extended from three car lengths to five.[4]

March events

• 16 March – Shibuya Station of Tokyu Toyoko Line move on underground station from ground station, with direct commuter express train start on Motomachi-Chūkagai of Yokohama to Hanno of Seibu Ikebukuro Line, Kawagoeshi of Tobu Tojo Line, via Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line. Tokyu Toyoko Line ends serving Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line trains. However, Hibiya Line trains are still able to run more than 80 km at one trip during through-train services.

April events

• 14 April – Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Green Line extends service west from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake City International Airport.[5]
• 26 April – RTD's W-Line light rail corridor extends service west from Denver Union Station to Golden. This is the first FasTracks corridor to be completed.[6]

May events

• 10 May – Norfolk Southern Railway announces the appointment of James A. Squires to become the railroad's new president effective 1 June.[7]
• 26 May – National Express' Essex Thameside franchise, c2c expires; extended through 2014.
• 27 May – CapeFLYER summer weekend service from Boston, Massachusetts to Cape Cod begun.[8]

July events

• 1 July – Opening of Hangzhou–Ningbo High-Speed Railway and Nanjing–Hangzhou Passenger Railway.[9]
• 6 July – Lac-Mégantic derailment: 47 people are killed in explosions and fire after an unattended train carrying Bakken formation crude oil runs away and derails in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. It becomes the deadliest rail accident in Canadian history since 1864.
• 24 July – Santiago de Compostela derailment: 79 people are killed when an Alvia train derails at excessive speed on a curve in Galicia (Spain).

August events

• 18 August – Utah Transit Authority's TRAX light rail Blue Line extends service further south from Sandy to Draper.[10]

September events

• 15 September – Xi'an Metro Line 1 opens in China.[11]

October events

• 15 October – The Kyushu Railway Company (Japan Railways Group) launches the 'Seven Stars in Kyushu' luxury sleeping car excursion train from Hakata Station with dedicated diesel locomotive haulage.
• 29 October – Completion of Marmaray suburban rail project in Istanbul with official opening of its tunnel under the Bosphorus, the first standard gauge rail connection between Europe and Asia.

December events

• 8 December – Utah Transit Authority's S Line (formerly known as Sugar House Streetcar) opens with service from South Salt Lake to the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City.[12]
• 22 December – Downtown MRT Line Phase 1 scheduled to open.
• 28 December – Opening of high speed Xiamen–Shenzhen Railway in southern China, fully completing the Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen High-Speed Railway.[13]
• 28 December – Wuhan Metro Line 4 and Suzhou Metro Line 2, including Zhengzhou Metro has been opened.
• 29 December – Shanghai Metro Lines 12 and 16 opened.

Deaths

• 28 May – Isabel Benham, American railroad financial expert, dies (b. 1909).
• 23 August – Richard J. Corman, founder and owner of R.J. Corman Railroad Group, dies (b. 1955).

Industry awards

Japan

Awards presented by the Japan Railfan Club

• 2013 Blue Ribbon Award: Tokyo Metro 1000 series EMU
• 2013 Laurel Prize:

References

1. fi:Edo (ohjausvaunu)
2. "Capital Projects". New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
3. Kirby, Dean (4 December 2012). "Opening of Metrolink tram service to Droylsden delayed until February 2013". Manchester Evening News. Chadderton, England. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
4. 東急大井町線戸越公園駅でのドアカット解消 [Selective door-opening eliminated at Togoshi-kōen Station on Tokyu Oimachi Line]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
5. "Airport TRAX Line to Open April 14". Utah Transit Authority. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
6. "RTD celebrates the successful grand opening of the West Rail Line" (PDF). Denver: RTD. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
7. Norfolk Southern Corporation (10 May 2013). "Norfolk Southern Names Six to Senior Management Positions" (Press release). Retrieved 4 March 2014.
8. Cassidy, Patrick (13 December 2012). "Weekend passenger rail service to run seasonally between Cape and Boston". The Standard-Times. New Bedford, Massachusetts. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
9. "New high-speed railways open to promote intercity development". Xinhua. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
10. Van Eyck, Zack (14 March 1999). "Bus routes will change when TRAX arrives". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
11. "西安地铁一号线15日正式通车试运营". 14 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
12. Vo-Duc, Viviane (5 September 2013). "New streetcar S-line set to open Dec. 8 in Sugar House". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
13. "Xiamen-Shenzhen HSR expected to open to traffic by end of 2013". What's on Xiamen. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.